


Pruning

by sunaddicted



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Future Fic, Growth, Healthy Relationships, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, References to Drugs, Smoking, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 20:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21434563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: [...]Complaining just-""-Helps""Yeah"
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Comments: 4
Kudos: 78





	Pruning

**Author's Note:**

> Edward the dog exists in this fic but s5 doesn't and Martin is their son lol

_Pruning_

The first to go were the cigars.

It had all begun with his yearly check up. His doctor had sat him down and he had bluntly reminded him of the fact that not only he was overweight, but that there was a history of heart diseases in his family - which wasn't something Oswald could really deny: together with the manor, the money and the legacy, upon his father's death he had inherited various papers, including all the results of his various exams and tests. Oswald had appreciated the honesty - he always did - but he really hadn't liked the implications.

He had liked even less the fact that if he didn't take some precautions, his time with his loved ones - Edward, Martin, the dog - could be drastically reduced; he hadn't survived Gotham and all those who had wanted him dead ignoring good advice, still.. he didn't have to like it. 

So, no more cigars. 

Oswald had thought he wouldn't miss them that much since they already were the rarest of his indulgences but how wrong he had been: as soon as he had gifted those he had left, the urge to put one between his lips had hit him with the strength of a bullet piercing through flesh and marrow and he knew more than a little something about those, with his personal experience and all.

So, he had lit up a cigarette and pulled a long drag of smoke in his lungs while he tried to not think about how soon he would have to give up those too - one thing at a time or he would go insane and there was only one destination for the criminally insane of Gotham: Arkham.

Oswald wasn't going back in there, not after having been upgraded to Blackgate. If it could even be called an upgrade considering that the building was just as squalid and drafty; the cells small and overcrowded; the food way below his - by anyone's, really - standards, usually as cold and hard as bricks: disembodied whispers narrated of the various attempts of the inmates to use the mashed potatoes as a weapon. Desperation would lead to anything, really: Oswald himself had done pretty fucked up stuff during hard times, when the loneliness, the hunger and the frustration with being trapped in prison had gotten to him. 

The second to go were the cigarettes. 

Oswald had been very aware that he would miss those but giving them up had seemed infinitely more acceptable than cutting down how much alcohol he drank in a day or re-tailoring his diet to include a lot more greens and reduce fats and sugars - not to mention the fact that he was supposed to also be more careful about just how much stress he took on at work. 

As if he could just send out cards and gently ask the other Rogues, the Bat and the GCPD to be mindful of his blood pressure - ha!

"You look tense, is something the matter?"

Oswald looked up at the other man, drinking in the sight of the concern etched on Edward's features; age had been kind to him - kinder than it had been to most of their acquaintances and colleagues "Tossed away the cigarettes"

"Oh, I see" Edward slid the house robe off of his shoulders and sat in bed, next to his partner "I am proud of you" he said honestly, leaning over to kiss the other's cheek "I know how hard this has been for you but I am very happy that you are putting your health first" Oswald had always had vices and Edward knew they helped the other man cope with tension and stress; he had always worried about them but he had known better than nagging Oswald about them, well aware of what kind of temper the other man packed in his small frame "Are you experiencing any withdrawl symptoms?"

Oswald shrugged and then he slid closer to the other man, easily burrowing into his side "Nothing more than jitters" he admitted with a sigh, forcing the tension out together with the air in his lungs "It's more the idea of giving up something that it's bothering me, rather than the deprivation itself" he had quitted smoking and drinking cold turkey at every stint in prison: his body was used to going the physical symptoms of withdrawl - of the toxins being flushed out of his body again and again. 

Deprivation was something he associated with incarceration. 

Indulgence was something he associated with freedom. 

Mixing the two didn't go well at all in his brain.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I would say you could get me a glass of wine but we both know I'm supposed to be careful about that too"

The bitterness in Oswald's voice made Edward's ribs ache: he hated seeing his partner so... so disheartened "You know, we had soup and bread for dinner - no meat, no elaborated sugars, no fats: you can concede yourself a glass of wine"

"Is that how it's going to be?"

"What do you mean?"

"Having to choose"

"No" Edward shook his head "No, Oswald. The doctor just said you need to be careful but you're not actually sick. You can indulge, just a little less than you do now"

He snorted "You make it sound so easy"

"I'm not..." Edward bit his lower lip and tilted Oswald's head up, a finger under his chin "I'm not trying to trivialize just how difficult this is - changing lifestyles never is. I'm just... trying to put it in a more comforting light"

"I know" he reached up, thumb caressing the cutting edge of a cheekbone "I know, I'm not annoyed with you" Oswald reassured, even if Edward probably already realised that himself without the need of an explanation "And I want to do this: I want to be here for you and Martin for as long as possible and if this is a way to do it, I'm willing to put in the work. Complaining just-"

"-Helps"

"Yeah"

"I understand"

It suddenly dawned on Oswald that Edward really did understand, better than anyone he could have confided into; his lover had abused drugs and medicines on and off throughout the years before finally deciding to take the matter in hand for Martin's sake, when he had had to look after their adoptive son on his own because Oswald had been in Blackgate - it had been undoubtedly hard but he had done it and Oswald knew that Edward was the better for it "Thank you"

"Not that I don't appreciate gratitude being heaped on me but why are you thanking me?" Edward joked, infusing some much needed light-heartedness in the atmosphere. 

"For putting things in a comforting light"

"Well, you're very welcome" Edward smiled against Oswald's lips, kissing him tenderly "Now, sleep or wine?"

He thought about it for a few seconds, trying to read the signals his body was truly sending him rather than interpreting them through the lense of annoyance "Sleep. Definitely"

"Good choice"

A pleading bark seemed to concur with that statement. 

Oswald chuckled and sat up, so that he could reach over the edge of the bed and hoist Edward the dog up "Ed agrees"

"Of course he does, he's an Edward afterall"


End file.
